The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) recently took a look at the greenhouse gas measurement methods and tools used by tourism, which accounts for a significant portion of the global carbon dioxide footprint. Research shows that current measurement tools are quite diverse, but also very complex.
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, the tourism market accounts for about 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. To support tourism operators in their efforts to accelerate climate protection measures, the United Nations World Tourism Organization conducted a global survey to better understand the current climate protection measures in the tourism industry. More than 1,000 representatives of destinations, companies and support organizations from 131 countries responded to the survey.
When it comes to accommodations, many multinational companies have customized measurement systems, while organizations like Greenkey offer support services to members, Hotels can also use the free Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative (HCMI) methods and tools to calculate the carbon footprint of hotel guests. The advantage of HCMI is that it is widely available. In addition, many companies are developing their own solutions, and many new tools are being introduced to provide easier measurement methods.
Travel agencies can also use a variety of carbon footprint measurement tools and methods. For example, some travel agencies use an open source approach and work with independent companies in their destinations to avoid dealing with agents, inefficiencies and surcharges. This also provides better value for money for their clients and supports the local economy. Tools such as atmosfair, ICAO Calculator and Sustainable Tourism International Calculator are also available to travel agents. For the travel agency industry as a whole, different operation modes make it difficult to obtain measurement values, and there is no consensus on whether carbon emissions of international air transport are included or not. In addition, large companies mainly hire external consulting companies to make measurement.
There are many possibilities for measuring carbon footprints in terms of destinations. Examples include the Sustainable Tourism Measurement Initiative (MST) which can be adopted at the national level, the input-output model used at the University of Queensland, a calculator tailored for local operators, an Ademe open source calculator or a Co2rism calculator. In these cases, the most complex challenge faced by tourist destinations is understanding the different roles and constraints, etc. In addition, destinations have the least resources in this area.
